ramyaramesh3007This creamy and flavourful chana masala is made with a blender in under 20 minutes. Easy to make, extremely tasty, and the perfect healthy, plant-based dinner.
Chana Masala is a staple, growing up in an Indian household. My mom would make it as a gravy for everything: thosai, idli, roti, paratha and naan. It always added a delicious protein twist to the meal while being immensely flavourful. I also love to pair it with fluffy white basmati rice.
‘Chana’ means chickpeas and ‘Masala’ means a blend of spices in Hindi. It’s prepared in many different ways across India, but today I will be showing you a quick version you can make in a blender to recreate the traditional taste in a simple and tasty way. It’s also entirely vegan and gluten free!
I like to use freshly pureed tomatoes for this recipe for a less acidic profile – the ones that comes in can or a bottle tend to be more sour and acidic. You can also choose to use just ground spices instead of whole spices if you don’t have them. The main spice that gives this dish its flavour is garam masala.
Ingredients You Need
- chickpeas – I use canned chickpeas for a quick recipe but you can also soak dried chickpeas overnight and pressure cook them for 10 minutes (5 whistles) to cook them until soft.
- aromatics – tomatoes, red onion, garlic, ginger, chili
- ground spices – garam masala, turmeric, kashmiri chili powder, ground coriander
- whole spices – bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin and fennel seeds
- creaminess – coconut milk
Easy Chickpea Masala
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 cloves
- 4 cardamom
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1/2 tbsp coriander powder
- 2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- salt
- black pepper
Aromatics to blend
- 3 medium tomatoes
- 1 red onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp ginger (4-5 slices)
- 1 green chili sub red chili
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- Chop aromatics into half and add them to a high speed blender. Blend until you get a smooth paste.
- Add 1 tbsp vegan butter to a pan. Once it melts, add all whole spices – bay leaf, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and fennel – and saute for a minute until fragrant.
- Add puree from blender, ground spices and continuously stir until the oil separates (indication that the aromatics are cooked).
- Add tomato paste, salt, black pepper, water and mix well. Add chickpeas, coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add more salt to taste if required. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve!